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"What television does is rent us friends and relatives who are quite satisfactory. This is quite something, to rent artificial friends and relatives right inside the house."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
 |
| Tleilaxu Eyes (Metal Eyes) | ||
| Tleilaxu eye surgery replaces natural eyeballs damaged or destroyed. |
Frank Herbert uses the idea of these artificial eyes to great effect in various stories, including Dune Messiah. The devices themselves are metallic, almost insectile in appearance. There is always the sense of distrust for technology that is often seen in Herbert's work.
The Tleilaxu themselves are never seen in the original book; it is not stated whether the eye surgery is done on the host planet.
| A serene smile spread over the ghola's dark features. The metal eyes lifted, centered on Paul, but maintained their mechanical stare. "That is how I am called, my lord: Hayt." |
| From Dune Messiah,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Putnam in 1969 Additional resources -
|
At present, there are no artificial or replacement eyes. However, scientists at the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Centre
(SVEC) (University of
Houston, Texas), have developed, tiny ceramic photocells that could
detect incoming light and so
‘repair’ malfunctioning human eyes.
At the back of each of your eyes are about 120 million rods and around
six million cones. They convert light into electrical
impulses which travel along
the optic nerve to your brain. If these cells are damaged, the result is a loss of eyesight.
The first generation of artificial
retinas constructed at SVEC
consist of 100,000 tiny ceramic
microdetectors, each one
twentieth the size of a human hair. The arrays are
attached to a polymer film one
millimetre by one millimetre in size, large enough to be placed by the surgeon.
The film is designed to dissolve
after a couple weeks, leaving the
array in position on the retina.
Find out more at bionic eye surgery.
Elsewhere in the novel, the Tleilaxu are described as producing not artifacts, but tools and services. Even war and poverty could be manufactured, and could be considered as either a destructive tool (poverty could wreck a rival's power) or a useful tool (war can focus the attention of a population, and can be used to cull unwanted population). The Tleilaxu are an interesting vision of what a corporation might look like in 10,000 years.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Dune Messiah
More Ideas
and Technology by Frank Herbert
Tech news articles related to Dune Messiah
Tech news articles related to works by Frank Herbert
Tleilaxu Eyes (Metal Eyes)-related
news articles:
- 'Bionic Eye' Argus II Retinal Implant
- What Retinal Implants May Not Replace
- Retinal Prosthesis Uses Organic Printing Inks
| Sleeep PRO Earplug For Maximum Rest |
| You'll Regrow That Limb, One Day |
| First 3D Printed Human Corneas From Stem Cells |
| Nanorobots Roam Your Bloodstream, Cleaning It |
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'Merton... placed the electrodes of the sleep-inducer on his forehead.'
'... we can descend and live down there at one of those year-round aquatic resorts.'
'...she would have to be coaxed by another series of pats into a circular orbit.'
'The sleek, tapered space shuttle lay immobile upon the private landing field...'
Yes, people of the future, robots will dress you.
